This is an older picture of my zone valves....I have since moved the shut off to an underground one and cleaned up the wiring, etc....but basically these are the type/brand of valves.It is interesting that you mention backflow preventers....our city recently came out with everyone needing one and having it inspected yearly. Especially if you have a water softener, Furnagator, etc. They checked my neighbor who has the same type of sprinkler valves that I have and they told him that he did not nee...

Thank you Wet Boots.....I know you are very helpful to many here and it is appreciated. I did a search on the sprinklerwarehouse website for these heads and At the risk of looking like an idiot, I did not find a head that is closed. So....I am assuming that you are telling me to just buy an adjustable head that screws on and adjust it to zero.....a small amount of water may still come out but it would stop enough of the flow to force any leak to hopefully show. Along that line of thinking, perha...

Ok....sorry for the repeated posts. I did go back to my zone valves and adjusted all of them, but the thumping still occurred. When I turned off zone #4 all the way, the thumping stopped. I was then able to open it back up and the thumping did not return, no leaking from the valves remained, and all seems well. I'm guessing that when my system turns on again and runs through the cycles, the thumping will return until I go out there and turn zone 4 all the way off and then turn it back on. I'm gu...

Sorry...I should add that I did check other threads on this issue, but it appears that others have stated that they have this "thumping" happen when the zone valves are ON....mine occurs only when the system turns off. So far it has been thumping at least 30 minutes after the system turns off with no stopping. I do have the water volume, (the large stem valve on top of the valves) turned on all the way, as I think I want the most volume/pressure I can have, especially on zone #1). Perhaps I need...

Good Morning all. I have a four zone system with all Irritrol 1" zone valves. They are only a couple of years old. Just the other day I replaced all 4 solenoids because a few of them were not opening/closing correctly. Now all four zones are opening and closing correctly, but when the system turns off I am getting a loud "thumping" noise, a pulsation, like a recurrent water hammer in at least three of the zone valves. The whole area shakes and water dribbles/spurts out of the backflow portion of...

MrFixit, You're the best. I did what you said, and I now see how the solenoids come off. I did check that white thing inside, and it seemed tight. I see how you use the other part of the solenoid to tighten it, etc. It seemed tight, and I felt like I really did not do anything, but low and behold, the zone no longer leaks. As of now, the whole system is perfect. Since I'm only down here twice a year and since water is so expensive down here, checking the system is one of the first things I do wh...

Thank you MrFixit! I'll do that tomorrow. I did not know there was anything to do/check inside the solenoid. I appreciate the good help and the education. I knew I needed to learn more about the solenoids.......yesterday one of them did not seem to be working correctly. I think it was my fault, perhaps not having them screwed on at the right depth or something. Today they were working fine. Yesterday if I had them snug to the valve,no water would go through, too loose, even just enough to let wa...

Well, I spent most of the afternoon working on the system. I repaired two pipe breaks caused by the landscapers, and took apart all four zone valves. I also replaced a couple of rotors. Everything looked fine with the zone valve parts, no obvious breaks, etc, but I cleaned up all the diaphragms, etc. All the solenoids seem to work fine now....I just have one zone that seems to be leaking. (A few of the other ones are leaking a very little, but not enough I don't believe to be a problem. This one...

Well, I started today working on the system. My zone #2 was the worse, so I took the valve apart and cleaned it all, checking the diaphragm, etc. I think the problem with that zone lies with the solenoid. I noticed that with the solenoid turned all the way down on the valve, nothing would flow on that zone. turning it "open" a bit allowed the water to flow. Putting it right where it was allowed water to flow, but when I turned the zone off at the controller, the water kept spraying......so the s...

Dear MrFixit, Thank you very much for your help. I plan on inspecting all of those valves tomorrow. Funny, the old valves were over 10 years old with no problems. I just replaced them 22 months ago because I'm only down here a few times a year, and thought it was a good idea. I'll do a good inspection tomorrow, and if needed, I'll buy new diaphragms. Based on what you told me, I might just call anyway and order new ones.... Thanks! Frank

I just checked sprinkler warehouse under replacement valve parts, and they only list RainBird, Hunter, and Weathermatic.......not Irrittrol. Why would they sell valves and not the parts? Is Irritrol really hunter or rainbird? Thanks, Frank

Well, i'm embarrassed to say I do not have a deep knowledge of the inner workings (yet) of the zone valves......but I did just take apart one of the old valves, (a Richdell) to get a look. This "old" valve looks almost exactly like my new irritol valves I installed in December of 2007, 22 months ago. There are two sides. One side just unscrews, and inside there is just an o-ring and t small plunger type stopper with a long thin rod that goes into the top that unscrews. The other side is screwed ...

Thank you MrFixit! I appreciate the quick and kind help. Luckily, I kept the old valves that I replaced. I'll get an education taking apart one of those so I learn what you are saying before touching the new ones. Do you really think diaphragms could go bad in less than 2 years? I'll do what you say and report back. Again, I thank you and this forum for the many times you all were and are helpful. 2 years ago I did not know what a sprinkler system was. Then I bought this Florida home, and since ...

Sorry......I should have mentioned that the zone valves are irritrol 1" anti siphon valves bought about a year or two ago. I could replace the rotor head(s) if needed, but some of them are new, and it seems strange that only the last one or two in each zone would be leaking. I do not think this is just residual water...it is a constant small flow. How do I check the valve to see if it is leaking, and how do I fix the valves if they are indeed leaking? Thank you. Frank.

Hello all. I replaced my 4 zone valves with new ones from here about a year or so ago. I just returned down here at the Florida home to find that 3 out of the four zones I have seem to be leaking a constant small amount of water at the last rotor head, generally at the lowest point of each zone. It's late now, but tomorrow I'll try shutting off each zone to see if the water stops. I do not think this is just residual water from the line after it shuts down.....I think that somehow the zone(s) ar...

Thanks MrFixit! I did replace the old valve back to the new one, so they are all the new valves that were put in less then a year and a half ago. I cannot seem to replicate this...since it only does it once in awhile. It did stop once I turned off, then turned back on the water supply. I've manually turned on each valve many times but without this happening. I'm hoping this happens again so I can try turning on/off the different valves one at a time to see if that changes anything. What complica...

Hello again all. Today, around the time that my last zone turned off during watering, I got this pulsating, banging noise just faster then about one bang per second...not as fast as a jackhammer, but it was loud and constant. all four of my zone valves were shaking. This also affected the water inside the house, as the water to the ice maker (the 3/8" line there is just a plastic tube) was shaking, hitting the back wall making a noise like it was possessed. I went out to my zone valves, turned t...